In Psalm 18 David is praising God for his deliverance and salvation. In the second verse of the Psalm he states that God is the "horn" of his salvation. This is the first time in Psalms that David uses the word "horn" to describe a characteristic of his life. He uses the Hebrew word translated "horn" 13 times in Psalms. The term is first used in Genesis when Abraham was on the mountain to sacrifice his son and at the last minute he saw a ram who was caught by "his horns" in a thicket. The term is often used to simply describe the horn of an animal. But, that is where we begin to see the analogy. The horn is the strength and honor of the animal. It is the feared weapon of the beast. When we see a bull we are not only amazed at his size and strength but we are awe struck at his sharp horns. In Psalms the "horn" is often referring to the strength or ego of the man (see Psalm 75:4, 5, 10; 92:10). In Psalm 18:2 we read that God is "... my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." David is stepping aside and giving praise to God, who not only provides salvation but is his salvation. God is the "horn" of his salvation. God is the one to be honored in David's salvation. The rest of Psalm 18 is all about what God's salvation in David's life means. But, before he describes the benefits and angles of that salvation David gives God the praise for being the "horn" - the prestige portion of his salvation. Read Psalm 89:17 and 92:10 for similar uses of the word. Who do we exalt as the horn of our salvation? Do we really exalt Him as the sole horn of our salvation? If we trust in our own efforts to live the Christian life we are exalting our own horn. It is only when we trust in God for both our spiritual salvation AND our daily walk can we have our horns in good shape!
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